Bacqueville Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen with unusual pin for review.

[Okeke]

Gentlemen

I have here the back of a known good Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen by Bacqueville, and another with an unusual pin.
The badge seems OK in all other respects, so is it possibly a genuine variant pin I have not before come across, or is it a stinker?

I look forwards to hearing your opinions.

Adrian

Below: known good badge, rear view. Note the "coke bottle" pin.



************************************************** *
Below: questionable badge with unusual pin.




************************************************** *

And this is the front of the badge: might it be a cast copy?




************************************************** *

[Adrian]

The pin is a post war type and from the back the outlines seem blurred which could be an indication of a cast.

[Okeke]

Thank you. I'll avoid it.

[Norm F]

As Adrian mentioned, the pin is definitely post-war, and you can see that the hinge has been manhandled in the replacement. Other than that, the badge itself is a typical example of the French-made S-Boat. They were all cast in zinc like that, whereas most of the second-market post-war castings are in some kind of brass alloy.

Having said that, currently most serious KM collectors avoid these French-made cast zincers since even at best they were never official wartime issue or tender. There's still some debate between the two positions of unofficial disallowed wartime production which gradually leaked into the post-war collector market versus completely post-war production for the collector market. Their construction style is reminiscent of some French regimental pins but that still doesn't pin down (no pun intended) the time of production.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

I'll further add that there were two production runs of the French-made zinc S-Boat. Here are images showing the features of Type 1 and Type 2, as well as a third image showing the typical post-war cast repro of the Type 1. Note that the badge in question in the opening post with the replaced main pin is a Type 2.